Viswanathan Annand was the first recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991-1992. Born on 11th December in the year 1969 Viswanathan is an exceptional chess player of our nation. Anand became India’s grandmaster in the year 1988 and he also held the FIDE World Chess Championship and became the first person in the whole Asia.
After becoming the undisputed World Champion in the year 2007 and later he defended his title in the year 2008 and also in the chess championship held in the year 2010. He is the only player in our country to win the World Rapid Chess Championship in the year 2003 and 2017. He made a record for holding the first rank for 21 months which is the sixth longest queue in the world.
For his amazing contribution toward Chess Government of India honored him with India’s second most reputed civilian award Padma Vibhusan in the year 2007 and was the first sportsperson achieve such milestone.